Hello!
I have a 3.5-year-old spayed yellow-lab (yellow factored lab) with skin issues - seem to be getting progressively worse as we try various things. She scratches, gnaws at feet, drags her chest/rib cage over the grass or rugs to scratch, has thinning hair in some places (legs, chest/rib cage area, under arms) - this goes on day & night. I feel like I have tried so much and I can't get this to resolve.
BEAM is good, high energy. We live on land and she is able to run many times throughout the day.
History for Mogli:
5 weeks, 5 days old breeder vaccinated - distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus, parainfluenza and coronavirus shots
Mogli - home to our house from the breeder at 8 weeks - switched from kibble to The Honest Kitchen Grain-Free varieties in Beef or Chicken, for main meals. Also tried just the base mix and adding our own protein in. Given other foods like apple slices, cucumber etc. for snacks. Itching noted, licking the potty area, brought to vet at 9 weeks, 3 days. Was vaccinated again - vet said the breeder shots did not count b/c she was too young.
10 weeks - put on simplicef, previcox - our other dog broke her nose...2 days later slight skin issues present by back thigh and a bump under her left front arm - doesn't last long. Noted gnawing at paw.
13 weeks, 2 days brought to vet for urinalysis - going potty a lot. This is the 3rd set of shots….given while she had a UTI. Put on amoxicillin & Benadryl.
June 28, 2016 - at 17 weeks - vet check for itching/scratching (she is sliding her chest over the grass and over rugs to scratch) + ear issues + 4th set of shots + annual rabies. + lepto.
July 10th - belly/undercarriage looks good - see pic laying on back in boat
40 weeks - teeth cleaning - no anesthesia - in home with dental hygienist.
1 year old - spay - skin looks good. This is the last of the pics I’m able to find where skin looks normal, even though she had some scratching. BUN is on the high side of "normal" reading at 26mg/dL while CREA is in normal limits at 1.4 mg/dL and BUN/CREA is at 19 on IDEXX. ALKP reading at 64 U/L.
1 year 3 months (May 2017) NO more The Honest Kitchen - switched to homemade meals for the next 7 months consisting of :
Breakfast consists of 2 cups papaya 1x/week on an empty stomach, a mash of apple, celery, wild blueberries, chia seeds, Barley Grass Juice Powder. Cucumber or pear slices or snacks.
Lunch: a variety of raw beef or turkey, turkey necks, cornish game hen, sometimes raw whole egg, coconut oil, or salmon oil, + kelp. I tried a single protein for 6-8 weeks at a time. No mixing of proteins.
Dinner: steamed veggies like winter squash, sweet potatoes, green beans, spinach, broccoli or another meat meal.
0-2x a week they would get raw bone marrow.
Started a probiotic at this time and Ambaya Gold Pet Health Vit/Min supplement.
Mogli - seems like skin & bones no matter how much I feed her. 60 lbs at this time. Daily 2 lb protein source (sometimes up to 4 lbs) + 2 cups melon blend + 16 oz of the apple/celery/blueberry mash + 16-32 ounces of the steamed veggie mash. Still seems hungry.
By August 2017 - very inflamed skin, vet for fecal flotation, silver shampoo. RX apoquel, drontal, cephalexin, heartgard. We used apoquel maybe 3 doses.
January 2018 - added The Honest Kitchen back in for one meal per day.
March 2018 notice itching has reduced greatly during the day - still itching at night.
June 2018 - see pics - presents with circle spots on the skin, ears are red. I opened Oregano Oil capsule & mixed with coconut oil - applied to skin. You can see in one of the pic that her skin started peeling - black specs. Rotated the oregano oil every other day with silver.
August 2018 tried half-gallon of Answers Raw Goat’s Milk + topical Nu-STOCK. Celery Juice for 1 week.
Feb 2019 - teeth cleaning - no anesthesia - in the home with a dental hygienist.
March 2019 - noted Mogli scratching a lot. Smell - musty, yeast smell on and off.
June 2019 - to vet for titer testing, bloodwork, and overall checkup. BUN is on now at the low end of high ... reading at 32 mg/dL while CREA is in normal limits at 1.1 mg/dL and BUN/CREA is 10 points higher than last at 29 on IDEXX. ALKP reading at 28 U/L. Other lab numbers to note with double change in numbers but still within normal are RETIC, WBC, NEU. See the attached lab report.
June 2019 - Holistic vet recommends The Honest Kitchen Limited ingredient Turkey for 90 days along with TCM herbs (External Wind by Jing Tang) and Immuquin. Just 3 days on this THK + Jing Tang, Mogli scratched until bleeding and seems very dehydrated - drinking more water than normal.
This last week I've started the day w celery juice, blended watermelon, the apple/blueberry/celery mash, the steamed blended veggies + raw turkey or raw Cornish game hen, raw sardines, raw beef. No supplements. I wanted to see if any change. Seems to be no relief skin wise but better on hydration - meaning she is not going through water.
What can I do? How can I help her?
Over these 3 years, we’ve tried homeopathy, various herbs/tinctures like nettle, licorice root, olive leaf, quercetin, Hawaii Pharm tinctures for skin issues/allergies, Respir-All,, B12, zinc. Topical Neem oil, Dr. Rose’s salve, Sovereign Silver topical/oral, dermoscent. We’ve also tried nothing but food.
We do not use topical flea/tick but do use heartgard every 45-60 days. No pesticides sprayed on lawn or in home. Use clean, some homemade cleaning products for house, just water or water/vinegar/soaked citrus peels for mopping floor, etc.
I have a 3.5-year-old spayed yellow-lab (yellow factored lab) with skin issues - seem to be getting progressively worse as we try various things. She scratches, gnaws at feet, drags her chest/rib cage over the grass or rugs to scratch, has thinning hair in some places (legs, chest/rib cage area, under arms) - this goes on day & night. I feel like I have tried so much and I can't get this to resolve.
BEAM is good, high energy. We live on land and she is able to run many times throughout the day.
History for Mogli:
5 weeks, 5 days old breeder vaccinated - distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus, parainfluenza and coronavirus shots
Mogli - home to our house from the breeder at 8 weeks - switched from kibble to The Honest Kitchen Grain-Free varieties in Beef or Chicken, for main meals. Also tried just the base mix and adding our own protein in. Given other foods like apple slices, cucumber etc. for snacks. Itching noted, licking the potty area, brought to vet at 9 weeks, 3 days. Was vaccinated again - vet said the breeder shots did not count b/c she was too young.
10 weeks - put on simplicef, previcox - our other dog broke her nose...2 days later slight skin issues present by back thigh and a bump under her left front arm - doesn't last long. Noted gnawing at paw.
13 weeks, 2 days brought to vet for urinalysis - going potty a lot. This is the 3rd set of shots….given while she had a UTI. Put on amoxicillin & Benadryl.
June 28, 2016 - at 17 weeks - vet check for itching/scratching (she is sliding her chest over the grass and over rugs to scratch) + ear issues + 4th set of shots + annual rabies. + lepto.
July 10th - belly/undercarriage looks good - see pic laying on back in boat
40 weeks - teeth cleaning - no anesthesia - in home with dental hygienist.
1 year old - spay - skin looks good. This is the last of the pics I’m able to find where skin looks normal, even though she had some scratching. BUN is on the high side of "normal" reading at 26mg/dL while CREA is in normal limits at 1.4 mg/dL and BUN/CREA is at 19 on IDEXX. ALKP reading at 64 U/L.
1 year 3 months (May 2017) NO more The Honest Kitchen - switched to homemade meals for the next 7 months consisting of :
Breakfast consists of 2 cups papaya 1x/week on an empty stomach, a mash of apple, celery, wild blueberries, chia seeds, Barley Grass Juice Powder. Cucumber or pear slices or snacks.
Lunch: a variety of raw beef or turkey, turkey necks, cornish game hen, sometimes raw whole egg, coconut oil, or salmon oil, + kelp. I tried a single protein for 6-8 weeks at a time. No mixing of proteins.
Dinner: steamed veggies like winter squash, sweet potatoes, green beans, spinach, broccoli or another meat meal.
0-2x a week they would get raw bone marrow.
Started a probiotic at this time and Ambaya Gold Pet Health Vit/Min supplement.
Mogli - seems like skin & bones no matter how much I feed her. 60 lbs at this time. Daily 2 lb protein source (sometimes up to 4 lbs) + 2 cups melon blend + 16 oz of the apple/celery/blueberry mash + 16-32 ounces of the steamed veggie mash. Still seems hungry.
By August 2017 - very inflamed skin, vet for fecal flotation, silver shampoo. RX apoquel, drontal, cephalexin, heartgard. We used apoquel maybe 3 doses.
January 2018 - added The Honest Kitchen back in for one meal per day.
March 2018 notice itching has reduced greatly during the day - still itching at night.
June 2018 - see pics - presents with circle spots on the skin, ears are red. I opened Oregano Oil capsule & mixed with coconut oil - applied to skin. You can see in one of the pic that her skin started peeling - black specs. Rotated the oregano oil every other day with silver.
August 2018 tried half-gallon of Answers Raw Goat’s Milk + topical Nu-STOCK. Celery Juice for 1 week.
Feb 2019 - teeth cleaning - no anesthesia - in the home with a dental hygienist.
March 2019 - noted Mogli scratching a lot. Smell - musty, yeast smell on and off.
June 2019 - to vet for titer testing, bloodwork, and overall checkup. BUN is on now at the low end of high ... reading at 32 mg/dL while CREA is in normal limits at 1.1 mg/dL and BUN/CREA is 10 points higher than last at 29 on IDEXX. ALKP reading at 28 U/L. Other lab numbers to note with double change in numbers but still within normal are RETIC, WBC, NEU. See the attached lab report.
June 2019 - Holistic vet recommends The Honest Kitchen Limited ingredient Turkey for 90 days along with TCM herbs (External Wind by Jing Tang) and Immuquin. Just 3 days on this THK + Jing Tang, Mogli scratched until bleeding and seems very dehydrated - drinking more water than normal.
This last week I've started the day w celery juice, blended watermelon, the apple/blueberry/celery mash, the steamed blended veggies + raw turkey or raw Cornish game hen, raw sardines, raw beef. No supplements. I wanted to see if any change. Seems to be no relief skin wise but better on hydration - meaning she is not going through water.
What can I do? How can I help her?
Over these 3 years, we’ve tried homeopathy, various herbs/tinctures like nettle, licorice root, olive leaf, quercetin, Hawaii Pharm tinctures for skin issues/allergies, Respir-All,, B12, zinc. Topical Neem oil, Dr. Rose’s salve, Sovereign Silver topical/oral, dermoscent. We’ve also tried nothing but food.
We do not use topical flea/tick but do use heartgard every 45-60 days. No pesticides sprayed on lawn or in home. Use clean, some homemade cleaning products for house, just water or water/vinegar/soaked citrus peels for mopping floor, etc.
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